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Reason  enough  for  vigorously  supporting  our  work  in.  Africa. 


r<w, 

S\  «  .  <  L  <  C>  ^e- 


Report  of  a  Visit  to 

Sierra  Leone,  West  Africa, 

By  Secretary  S.  S.  Hough. 

To  the  Bishops  and  Directors  of  the  Foreign^Mission- 

ary  Society,  United  Brethren  in  Christ: 

Dear  Co-workers  :  In  carrying  out  your  instructions  at 
the  last  Board  meeting  to  visit  our  mission  in  Africa  as  soon 
as  possible,  I  left  New  York  City  in  company  with  Prof,  and 
Mrs.  E.  M.  Hursh  on  the  steamship  “Celtic,”  on  November 
7,  1912.  We  arrived  in  Freetown,  West  Africa,  Sunday  morn¬ 
ing,  December  1. 

The  Freetown  harbor  presented  a  fine  view.  There  was 
a  combination  of  city,  water  and  foot  hills  clothed  with  tropi¬ 
cal  verdure,  and  back  of  all,  mountain  peaks.  Our  rest  cot¬ 
tage  on  Mt.  Leicester,  the  Albert  Academy  building  and  our 
mission  house  came  in  clear  view  before  the  ship  anchored. 
It  is  impossible  to  describe  one's  feeling  as  he  sets  foot  for 
the  first  time  on  the  soil  of  Africa,  after  having  studied  the 
field  for  years,  and  after  a  sea  voyage  of  twenty  days. 

Freetown,  the  big  city  for  the  black  man  on  the  West 
Coast,  has  a‘  population  of  34,000.  It  is  without  electricity 
and  has  no  sidewalks.  There  are  no  horses  and  wagons,  and 
only  a  few  ox  carts,  so  the  pedestrians  have  the  right  of  way 
and  thev  all  take  to  the  middle  of  the  streets  with  their  loads 
On  their  heads. 

Our  excellent  mission  house  is  centrally  located  in  Free¬ 
town  but  two  squares  from  the  wharf.  Here  we  assembled 
with  our  beloved  missionaries  who  were  in  the  city,  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  J.  F.  Musselman,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  R.  P.  Dougherty,  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  G.  M.  Richter,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  E.  M.  Hursh,  and 
Prof.  D.  E.  Weidler.  After  refreshments  and  rest  a  prelimi- 
narv  conference  w,as  held  and  committees  were  appointed  to 
consider  the  work  to  be  presented  to-  the  annual  conference 
and  the  problems  to  be  discussed  in  the  mission  council. 

I  preached  to  a  large  audience  in  our  Freetown  church, 
visited  the  Albert  Academy  and  addressed  the  student  body 
at  chapel  exercises.  The  splendid  grounds  and  buildings 
were  inspected  and  I  saw  the  professors,  tutors  and  students 
in  actual  class  work.  Later  I  had  the  privilege  of  sharing  in 


4 


their  annual  commencement  which  brought  out  a  most  rep¬ 
resentative  audience  of  British  officials,  missionaries,  native 
pastors  and  prominent  laymen.  Five  excellent  young  men 
received  the  diploma  of  the  institution.  If  our  people  could 
have  witnessed  this  scene  it  would  have  sent  a  wave  of  en¬ 
thusiasm  throughout  our  whole  denomination.  Principal  R. 
P.  Dougherty  and  Mrs.  Dougherty  have  done  a  noble  work 
at  the  head  of  this  school.  Prof.  D.  E.  Weidler  has  proven 
himself  a  most  excellent  instructor. 

Four  hundred  and  twenty-one  students  have  received  in¬ 
struction  and  training  in  the  Albert  Academy  since  it  was 
founded  in  1904.  I  was  especially  impressed  with  the  repre¬ 
sentative  character  of  the  students.  They  come  not  only  from 
widely  different  sections  of  Sierra  Leone,  but  bright  boys  are 
here  from  the  Gold  Coast  and  Nigeria  fourteen  hundred  miles 
away. 

After  an  interview  with  the  governor  of  Sierra  Leone 
concerning  mission  and  educational  work,  Rev.  J.  F.  Mussel- 
man,  acting-superintendent,  and  the  writer,  accompanied  part 
of  the  way  by  Rev.  E.  M.  Hursh,  took  a  trip  into  the  interior 
to  inspect  our  leading  mission  stations. 

We  traveled  from  Freetown  to  Moyamba,  a  distance  of 
seventy  miles  on  the  narrow-gauge  railroad  which  makes 
on  an  average  ten  miles  an  hour.  Our  mission  at  Moyamba 
is  well  located.  The  mission  house  and  church  are  perma¬ 
nent  buildings  conveniently  arranged.  The  school  house, 
however,  is  utterly  unfit  for  its  purpose.  The  mission’s  ten 
acre  farm  where  cassada,  ground  nuts,  mangoes  and  oranges 
are  growing,  is  in  good  condition.  Our  church  and  day-school 
here  are  doing  excellent  work.  Of  chief  importance  are  the 
girls  now  in  training  in  our  Girls’  Boarding  School  at  Mo¬ 
yamba.  These  girls  come  from  the  various  sections  of  Sierra 
Leone  and  represent  the  highest  grade  of  work  we  are  doing 
for  girls  in  our  mission  in  West  Africa.  Linder  the  direction 
of  Miss  Odle  and  Miss  Shanklin  this  school  is  in  a  flourishing 
condition.  The  girls  are  taught  to  do  all  kinds  of  house  work 
and  sewing  in  connection  with  their  duties. 

While  at  Moyamba  we  visited  the  jail  where  eighty-five 
men  were  confined,  nearly  all  of  them  charged  Avith  cannibal¬ 
ism.  I  was  granted  the  privilege  of  speaking  to  these  prison¬ 
ers,  many  of  them  chiefs  and  headmen.  They  all  came  out 
into  an  open  quadrangle  and  presented  a  most  striking  ap¬ 
pearance.  I  preached  through  an  interpreter  using  the  text, 
“The  wages  of  sin  is  death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.”  God  gave  liberty,  and  the 
truth  seemed  to  take  hold  of  the  people  in  a  wonderful  way. 
I  never  expect  to  witness  another  such  scene.  The  depth  of 


5 


the  mystery  of  iniquity,  and  the  works  of  darkness  in  Africa 
began  to  take  hold  of  me  with  a  firm  grip. 

Before  leaving  Moyamba  we  held  a  conference  with  eigh¬ 
teen  native  pastors,  teachers  and  other  workers  some  of  whom 
had  come  in  from  adjacent  territory.  We  were  thus  able  to 
get  an  account  of  the  work  at  out-stations,  and  at  the  same 
time  prepare  the  minds  and  hearts  of  these  workers  for  the 
annual  conference  soon  to  be  held. 

Taiama  was  the  second  station  visited.  To  reach  this 
place  we  traveled  east  on  the  railroad  twenty-four  miles  to 
Mano,  and  thence  north  through  the  bush  fifteen  miles  by 
hammock — our  trunks,  boxes  and  other  articles  being  borne 
by  carriers  on  their  heads  during  this  journey  of  five  hours 
from  Mano  to  Taiama.  This  was  my  first  experience  in  travel¬ 
ing  by  hammock  and  it  was  thoroughly  enjoyed.  Our  part)) 
made  quite  an  imposing  procession.  We  crossed  a  number 
of  streams  of  water  on  temporary  bridges,  and  passed  through 
four  of  the  ninety  villages  which  belong  to  Taiama  as  a  mis¬ 
sion  center.  Night  came  on  as  we  journeyed  over  the  narrow 
trail  which  Avas  often  completely  arched  over  with  Aunes 
and  branches. 

On  our  arrival  at  Taiama  we  received  a  hearty  welcome 
from  Miss  Eaton  and  Miss  Akin  who  for  many  years  have 
been  the  Lord’s  apostles  in  this  far  up  country.  They  are 
surrounded  an  all  sides  by  pagan  towns  and  African  bush  in 
which  wild  monkeys,  leopards  and  deer  abound.  Here  we 
saw  paganism  as  it  has  been  for  ages.  On  Sabbath  a  large 
congregation  filled  our  new  church,  the  paramount  chief  and 
head  men  from  adjacent  villages  being  present.  ReAr.  Mr. 
Musselman  baptized  nine  persons  and  received  .three  into 
church  membership,  and  aider  a  sermon  by  the  writer  the 
Lord’s  supper  was  celebrated.  The  Sunday  school  Avas  held 
at  four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon.  One  hundred  and  five  per¬ 
sons  were  present.  There  were  two  star  classes  each  with 
a  perfect  attendance  of  tAventy-three.  The  conquest  flag  Avav- 
ed  OA^er  the  class  which  had  the  largest  number  present.  They 
were  children  from  six  to  twelve  years,  half  of  whom  Avere 
Entirely  nude. 

While  at  Taiama  we  visited  the  place  Avhere  ReA^.  and  Mrs. 
L.  A.  McGrew,  of  precious  memory,  laid  down  their  lives  as 
martyrs  for  the  gospel.  We  next  spent  one  night  at  Mano 
Adhere  it  seemed  as  though  the  whole  town  turned  out  to  give 
us  an  enthusiastic  reception. 

Retracing  our  course,  we  then  traveled  to  Rotifunk.  A 
great  congregation  assembled  to  greet  us.  The  heroic  lives 
laid  down  for  Africa's  redemption  will  forever  make  Rotifunk 
a  sacred  place.  Here  are  the  tombs  of  ReAr.  Ira  E.  Albert, 


i 


Conference  Quartet. 


Patients  in  Line  at  the  Dispensary,  Rolifunk. 


New  Manual  Training  Building  on  the  right),  Shenge. 


I 


7 


Miss  Frances  Williams,  Rev.  R.  N.  West,  Miss  Elma  Bit- 
tie,  Rev.  E.  E.  Todd,  and  of  our  five  sainted  martyrs,  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  I.  N.  Cain,  Dr.  Mary  C.  Archer,  Miss  Ella  Schenck 
and  Dr.  Marietta  Hatfield.  Being  dead  they  yet  speak. 

Rotifunk  is  beautifully  situated  and  the  entire  mission 
property  is  most  substantial  and  admirably  adapted  for  mis¬ 
sion  purposes.  We  found  Prof.  Wimmer,  Dr.  Griggs  and 
Miss  Landis  carrying  forward  the  day  school  and  medical 
work  with  good  success. 

A  LITTLE  WOMAN  DOING  A  BIG  WORK. 

I  have  alwavs  believed  in  medical  missions,  but  never 
before  was  I  so  impressed  with  this  work  as  during  my  stay 
at  Rotifunk.  I  found  myself  awake  early  one  morning  and 
decided  I  would  go  out  to  the  dispensary  and  await  the  ar¬ 
rival  of  the  first  patient;  but  behold,  I  found  nearly  a  score 
there  already  before  sunrise  and  others  with  bottles  and  cans 
coming  for  medicine.  At  eight  o’clock  I  returned  and  spoke 
to  the  large  crowd  about  Christ  the  Great  Physician,  after 
which  they  took  their  turn  for  treatment,  the  women  receiv¬ 
ing  first  attention.  Think  of  it !  During  1901  when  Dr.  Griggs 
began  her  work  at  Rotifunk,  she  treated  but  two  hundred 
patients  and  received  only  $85  for  the  medicine.  Year  by 
year  the  work  has  grown  in  such  wonderful  favor  that  over 
seven  thousand  different  persons  were  treated  during  the 
last  twelve  months  and  their  voluntary  payments  more  than 
met  the  entire  expense  for  salaries  of  missionaries,  medicine 
and  the  up-keep  of  the  dispensary.  From  all  parts  of  Sierra 
Leone  persons  with  various  ailments  including  leprosy  and 
cancerous  sores  find  their  way  to  the  dispensary,  and  to  each 
one  the  news  of  a  Savior  is  preached.  Dr.  Griggs  is  splendid¬ 
ly  reinforced  by  Miss  Landis  and  her  native  assistant,  Miss 
Sarah  Cromanty,  who  is  a  graduate  of  our  school  at  Roti¬ 
funk. 

The  church  at  Rotifunk  is  well  organized.  Class  and 
prayer  meetings  are  largely  attended  and  the  membership  is 
being  well  trained  in  giving  toward  self-support  and  for  mis¬ 
sions. 

From  Rotifunk  we  went  to  Shenge  by  row  boat  down  the 
Bompeh  River.  The  distance  is  fifty-five  miles.  This  is  a 
difficult  and  uncertain  trip,  requiring  sometimes  two  full 
days.  One  must  wait  for  the  proper  hour  to  make  the  start 
just  as  the  tide  is  going  out.  We  rowed  with  the  tide  for  ten 
miles,  then  anchored  and  slept  for  a  few  hours  until  the  re¬ 
ceding  tide  ceased  flowing.  About  midnight  we  waked  up 
the  boys  who  were  asleep  on  their  oars,  and  we  started  again 
for  the  open  sea  which  we  reached  just  at  daybreak.  Fortu- 


8 


nately  a  good  breeze  struck  up  at  the  right  moment  and  our 
boys  exchanged  the  power  of  the  oar  for  the  wind  on  the  sails 
and  we  sped  across  the  bay  to  Shenge,  twenty  miles  away, 
in  a  few  hours.  This  boat  trip  was  very  different  from  the 
hammock  journey.  Wild  monkeys  could  be  seen  dangling 
on  the  branches  of  the  mangrove  trees  which  line  the  banks 
of  the  river,  and  alligators  were  heard  in  the  water  nearby. 

We  found  Shenge  to  be  a  most  charming  place.  Stately 
palm  trees  and  mango  walks,  and  the  bracing  ocean  breeze 
combine  to  make  this  an  ideal  mission  station.  Here  is  locat¬ 
ed  the  Rufus  Clark  and  Wife  Training  School  which  has  pre¬ 
pared  so  many  of  our  able  native  leaders. 

Shenge  is  also  noted  as  the  first  permanent  place  where 
our  Church  opened  mission  work  in  West  Africa.  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  H.  T.  Miller  have  been  doing  hard,  faithful  work  here. 
A  new  manual  training  building  has  just  been  completed. 
The  boys  in  school  performed  nearly  all  the  work  in  erecting 
this  much  needed  building,  in  which  rope  making,  carpentry 
and  other  trades  are  taught.  With  proper  equipment  now  in 
sight  from  the  Rufus  Clark  bequest,  Shenge  is  destined  to 
become  a  mighty  power  in  its  school,  manual  training  and  in¬ 
dustrial  work. 

Rev.  Morris  Goodrich  and  his  boys  who  had  brought  us 
from  Rotifunk  to  Shenge  in  their  splendid  boat,  the  “Ivy,”  took 
us  to  Mofus  on  one  tide,  in  seven  hours.  The  plantation,  and 
the  buildings  at  Mofus  were  much  as  we  expected  to  find 
them.  Rev.  E.  Kingman  has  done  a  wonderful  work.  Thou¬ 
sands  of  rubber  and  other  trees  are  now  growing  though 
many  have  been  destroyed  by  ants  and  other  insects.  The 
tests  we  are  making  at  Mofus  will  prove  of  great  value  in  the 
future  development  of  this  whole  section  of  Africa. 

Fifteen  miles  by  hammock  and  as  many  more  on  foot 
brought  us  in  one  day  from  Mofus  back  to  Rotifunk  where 
we  took  the  train  for  Freetown.  After  reading  and  answer¬ 
ing  the  mail  from  America  and  enjoying  a  rare  Christmas 
season  with  our  missionaries  we  were  off  again,  this  time  by 
steamer,  from  Freetown  to  Bonthe,  a  distance  of  one  hun¬ 
dred  miles  to  the  southeast.  Here  we  saw  our  excellent 
church,  erected  through  the  heroic  labors  of  Rev.  R.  Cookson 
Taylor,  of  precious  memory.  We  had  the  privilege  of  wor¬ 
shiping  twuce  with  our  congregation  at  Bonthe,  the  last  time 
at  a  watch-night  meeting  of  unusual  interest. 

After  inspecting  the  work,  we  crossed  from  the  Sherbro 
Island  by  row  boat  to  Bendu  on  the  main  land,  to  see  the 
chapel  recently  erected  by  the  natives  themselves  in  this  new 
territory,  where  four  thousand  persons  are  living  who  have 
been  without  the  gospel.  This  whole  region  east  and  south 


9 


of  Ben du  to  the  Liberian  boundary  line  is  entirely  destitute 
of  Christian  work,  and  is  the  darkest  of  the  dark  places  on  the 
West  Coast. 

Returning-  to  Freetown  we  spent  three  days  on  Mt.  Lei¬ 
cester  in  our  Bethany  Cottage.  The  atmosphere  on  the  mount 
was  much  lighter  and  cooler  than  we  found  elsewihere.  The 
view  from  this  rest  home  is  very  fine.  Right  before  us  lay 
the  city  of  Freetown,  the  harbor  with  ships  at  anchor,  and 
the  great  ocean  stretching  out  into  the  hazy  distance.  It 
was  a  wise  move  on  the  part  of  the  Church  to  build  Bethany 
Cottage  on  Mt.  Leicester. 

Following  the  visitation  to  our  own  stations,  we  inspect¬ 
ed  some  mission  work  of  other  societies,  and  had  numerous 
conferences  with  leaders  of  other  churches.  The  thirty-third 
annual  session  of  our  West  Africa  Conference  was  held  in 
Freetown,  January  8  to  January  16.  Then  many  days  were 
given  to  prayer,  council  and  planning  with  our  own  mission¬ 
aries.  In  all  I  spent  eight  and  one-half  weeks  in  Sierra  Leone, 
preached  ten  sermons,  made  fourteen  addresses  and  had  the 
privilege  of  giving  the  commencement  address  at  the  Albert 
Academy  and  the  opening  addresses  for  the  new  year  at  the 
Fourah  Bay  College  and  at  Albert  Academy. 

Every  effort  was  made  by  our  missionaries  to  make  the 
visit  helpful  to  the  mission.  They  put  me  in  touch  with  ac¬ 
tual  conditions  everywhere,  and  secured  for  me  the  latest 
facts  on  all  departments  of  mission  work. 

In  order  to  get  the  most  thorough  .knowledge  of  the  work 
on  the  entire  west  coast,  I  visited  London  on  the  way  to 
Africa  and  interviewed  the  secretaries  of  the  Church  Mission¬ 
ary  Society  and  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  about 
their  work  in  Africa  and  their  plans  for  the  future.  Much 
valuable  information  was  thus  secured  and  our  discussions 
prepared  the  way  for  closer  cooperation.  While  in  London 
I  called  on  Honorable  Whitelaw  Reid,  American  Ambassador, 
and  had  an  extended  and  satisfactory  interview  with  him 
about  important  problems  now  pending  in  Sierra  Leone. 

As  we  journeyed  from  Liverpool  to  Freetown  we  found 
on  shipboard  a  dozen  missionaries  on  their  way  to  Nigeria, 
the  Gold  Coast.  Liberia  and  other  places.  An  hour  each  day 
was  arranged  for  prayer,  Bible  study  and  the  discussion  of 
the  mission  problem.  This  proved  most  helpful.  We  thus 
obtained  definite  statements  of  the  progress,  aims,  and  meth¬ 
ods  of  mission  work  in  widely  different  sections  of  West 
Africa. 

IMPRESSIONS  OF  PAGAN  AFRICA 

As  a  result  of  the  personal  investigations,  and  the  numer¬ 
ous  interviews,  it  is  my  conviction  that  the  continent  of  Af- 


10 


rica  presents  the  most  complex  difficulties  of  any  mission 
field  in  the  world.  We  have  hardly  begun  to  appreciate  what 
it  means  to  begin  at  the  bottom  and  lift  millions  of  human 
beings  in  a  vast  continent  like  Africa,  where  physical  condi¬ 
tions  are  so  adverse  to  the  life  and  working  ability  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon. 

(1) .  There  are  many  hundreds  of  different  tribes,  each 
with  its  own  language  and  customs  which  must  be  mastered 
before  the  messenger  of  Christ  can  get  into  contact  with  the 
life  of  the  people.  Either  the  English,  French  and  German 
must  become  the  official  languages  or  the  spoken  languages 
of  the  various  tribes  must  be  reduced  to  writing,  dictionaries 
formed,  the  Bible  translated  into1  their  own  tongues,  and  a 
literature  created  before  the  people  can  be  enlightened  and 
educated. 

(2) .  Another  difficulty  is  the  form  of  tribal  organiza¬ 
tion,  which  gives  the  chief  the  entire  control  of  the  land,  and 
practically  the  control  of  the  lives  of  many  of  his  subjects. 

(3) .  Polygamy  is  an  integral  factor  of  society  as  it  is 
now  constituted  in  Africa,  and  it  is  the  greatest  single  ob¬ 
stacle  with  which  the  Christian  Church  must  grapple.  A  man 
in  pagan  Africa  is  rated  as  well-to-do  in  propprtion  to  the 
number  of  wives  he  has.  The  chief  has  anywhere  from  ten 
to  two  hundred,  a  head  man  a  less  number,  say  from  five  to 
twenty.  The  first  wife  often  urges  her  husband  to  get  other 
wives.  The  burden  of  the  work  will  then  be  distributed,  and 
the  first  wife  will  hold  the  place  of  honor.  The  children  of  a 
man  of  many  wives  are  practically  certain  of  being  able  to 
marry  the  son  or  daughter  of  a  “big  man,”  no  less  famous  than 
their  father.  In  some  sections  of  Africa  polygamy  is  obligatory. 
“A  man  inherits  his  wives  from  his  father  or  his  uncle  just 
as  he  inherits  other  property.”  There  is  no  family  life  in 
pagan  Africa  as  we  understand  that  term  in  America.  Very 
much  more  could  be  said  about  the  evil  of  polygamy  and  the 
obstacles  to  Christian  work  associated  with  it. 

(4) .  The  native  Africans  are  in  a  desperate  state  from 
fear  of  evil  spirits.  They  have  been  led  captive  by  the  pow¬ 
ers  of  darkness  and  have  organized  societies  with  a  view  to 
appeasing  the  devil  and  to  destroy  their  enemies.  Belief  in 
witchcraft  and  fetiches  or  charms  is  universal.  There  is  one 
charm  to  protect  them  from  death  by  wild  beasts,  another  to 
keep  strangers  from  killing  them,  and  a  great  variety  to  keep 
their  property  from  being  stolen.  The  charm  or  medicine  is 
used  also  in  swearing  a  death  curse  on  their  enemies.  Thou¬ 
sands  of  persons  die  annually  on  account  of  these  dark  prac¬ 
tices. 


11 


I  found  pagan  Africa  instead  of  being  passive  to  be  in¬ 
tensely  active  in  the  works  of  darkness. 

Rightly  understood  this  condition  calls  out  one’s  profound 
pity,  for  the  people  are  in  darkness  and  blindly  seeking  for 
the  light.  They  feel  that  wrong  has  been  done  and  some  sacri¬ 
fice  must  be  made ;  and  because  they  fear  evil  spirits  the  sacri¬ 
fice  is  made  to  devils,  and  thus  they  fulfill  Paul’s  declaration 
in  I.  Cor.  10:20,  “The  things  which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice,  they 
sacrifice  to  devils  and  not  to  God.” 

THE  HUMAN  LEOPARD  SOCIETY. 

Fanatical  belief  in  charms  or  fetiches  has  grown  to  such 
an  extent  in  some  sections  of  Africa  as  to  lead  to  the  sacri¬ 
fice  of  human  life,  that  the  charms  may  be  anointed  with 
human  flesh,  so  as  to  give  the  one  possessing  the  charm, 
as  the  people  blindly  believe,  power  over  his  enemies  and  sure 
prosperity.  To  obtain  the  human  victims  necessary  to  re¬ 
plenish  these  charms  from  time  to  time  the  Human  Leopard 
Society  was  formed,  each  member  of  which  is  expected  to 
furnish  a  victim  in  turn. 

In  addition  to  anointing  their  charms  with  the  blood 
and  fat,  portions  of  the  body  are  eaten.  Many  who  are  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  members  of  this  Human  Leopard  Society  have 
been  arrested  in  Sierra  Leone  and  are  now  being  tried  at 
Gbamghama  by,  three  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Brit¬ 
ish  Government  as  a  result  of  a  special  act  of  legislation.  In 
all,  eighteen  have  been  tried  and  sentenced  thus  far,  eight  to 
be  hanged,  two  to  life  imprisonment  and  eight  to  be  deported. 
The  special  act  under  which  the  trial  is  being  conducted 
grants  the  commissioners  power  to  banish  persons  who  may 
be  regarded  as  undesirable,  even  though  there  is  no  evidence 
found  that  they  were  associated  with  this  Human  Leopard 
Society,  or  its  work.  Doubtless  many  innocent  will  suffer 
with  the  guilty  for  it  is  almost  impossible  to  determine  what 
is  true  testimony  and  what  is  false  in  the  up-country  districts 
of  Africa. 

Mr.  Hursh  and  Mr.  Weidler  of  our  mission  were  present 
for  several  days  during  the  trial  that  is  now  in  progress. 
There  are  three  classes  of  witnesses, — Christians,  Mohamme¬ 
dans,  and  Pagans.  The  following  is  the  oath  taken  by  the 
Pagan  witnesses :  “I  swear  by  this  medicine  that  I  will  tell  the 
truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  Should 
I  tell  a  lie,  if  I  go  to  my  farm  may  a  snake  bite  me,  if  I  go 
in  a  canoe  on  the  river  may  the  canoe  sink ;  as  I  drink  this 
medicine  may  my  belly  swell.  I  swear  by  my  liver,  my 
lungs,  my  kidneys,  and  my  heart.  If  I  should  tell  a  lie,  may  I 


12 


always  be  in  danger  and  die  suddenly.”  (Here  the  witness 
drinks  the  “medicine”.) 

The  mystery  of  iniquity  connected,’  with  all  these  prac¬ 
tices  mentioned  cannot  be  understood  until  one  is  on  the 
ground  and  sees  the  conditions  as  they  are. 

And  now  consider  that  what  has  been  *said  in  the  fore¬ 
going  applies  to  a  territory  three  thousand  miles  in  width 
from  north  to  south,  and  which  stretches  from  Freetown  east¬ 
ward  across  Africa  a  distance  as  great  as  from  New  York  to 
Freetown.  In  this  vast  area  there  are  from  eighty  million  to 
one  hundred  million  Africans  living  as  they  have  been  for 
centuries. 

THE  MOHAMMEDAN  ADVANCE 

Into  the  midst  of  such  a  situation  as  I  have  described, 
Mohammedanism  has  been  advancing  down  over  Africa  from 
the  north  for  thirteen  centuries.  The  Mohammedan  priests 
proffer  to  the  pagan  African  a  simple  declaration  that  there 
is  but  one  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet.  They  allow 
the  black  man  four  wives  and  they  offer  him  powerful  charms 
to  drive  away  evil  spirits.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
rapid  advance  of  Islam  in  Africa  is  easily  understood.  Like 
a  blight  the  followers  of  the  false  prophet  have  been  descend¬ 
ing  over  the  dark  continent,  and  their  line  of  advance  is  now 
as  far  south  as  eight  degrees  north  of  the  equator.  It  is 
estimated  that  there  are  from  forty  million  to  fifty  million 
in  Africa  who  now  class  themselves  as  Mohammedans.  Sier¬ 
ra  Leone  is  on  the  advance  line  of  Islam.  The  districts  in 
the  northern  part  of  Sierra  Leone  are  now  from  fifty  to  sev¬ 
enty  per  cent.  Mohammedan,  while  in  the  southern  part  the 
people  are  almost  entirely  pagan.  In  Freetown  and  the 
colony  adjacent  the  number  of  Mohammedans  increased  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  ten  years  from  7,666  to  11,451. 

But  Mohammedanism  has  received  a  desperate  blow  in 
the  victory  of  the  Balkan  States  over  the  Turks  about  Con¬ 
stantinople.  The  influence  of  this  remarkable  war  will  be 
felt  to  the  remotest  part  of  the  Mohammedan  world.  Not 
during  the  last  five  hundred  years1  has  Christianity  had  such 
an  opportunity  to  win  Mohammedans  to  Christ,  and  to  check 
the  advance  of  the  false  prophet  in  Africa  as  at  the  present 
moment. 

THE  COMING  OF  CHRIST  TO  WEST  AFRICA 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  and  the  Wesleyan  For¬ 
eign  Missionary  Society  of  England  began  organized  mission 
work  in  Freetown  about  one  hundred  years  ago.  Sierra 
Leone  thus  became  the  Jerusalem  for  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 
From  this  protectorate  converted  slaves  and  others  have  been 


13 


going-  to  the  Gold  Coast,  Nigeria  and  other  sections  of  Africa, 
carrying  the  gospel  message  thousands  of  miles  to  these  new 
fields. 

The  missionary  work  during  the  first  fifty  years  was 
confined  chiefly  to  the  liberated  slaves  and  to  towns  along 
the  coast.  The  hinterland  with  its  great  populations  and 
pagan  difficulties  was  almost  untouched  when  the  United 
Brethren  Church  in  1855  began  work  on  the  west  coast.  As 
a  denomination  we  have  never  fully  appreciated  the  difficul¬ 
ties  connected  with  the  task  of  establishing  mission  work  in 
the  hinterland  of  Sierra  Leone.  The  gospel  banner  set  up  by 
our  brave  missionaries  has  never  been  taken  down,  and  the 
light  of  God  has  been  dispelling  darkness  and  bringing  de¬ 
liverance  through  Christian  schools,  the  medical  missionary, 
and  the  gospel  evangel. 

During  the  past  century  messengers  of  God  have  kindled 
gospel  fires  around  the  entire  rim  of  Africa,  and  the  morning 
of  a  new  day  is  dawning,  but  the  vast  interior  is  yet  in  mid¬ 
night  darkness  save  in  little  spots  here  and  there  where  mis¬ 
sionaries  have  started  work. 

The  latest  religious  statistics  for  the  continent  give  nine 
millions  as  adherents  to  Christianity,  forty,  million  Moham¬ 
medans  and  eighty-one  million  pagans.  If  the  entire  popula¬ 
tion  were  divided  among  the  ordained  missionaries  now  at 
work,  each  would  receive  eighty-eight  thousand  persons  as 
a  parish* 

CONFERENCE  AND  COUNCIL  MEETINGS 

From  the  first  day’s  work  in  Africa  we  set  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  missionaries  and  native  pastors  to  praying  and 
working  with  a  view  to  make  the  annual  conference  and  the 
council  meetings  most  thorough  and  most  powerful  in  spirit¬ 
ual  results.  In  no  other  foreign  field  did  I  find  such  a  large 
annual  conference.  Here  for  the  first  time  I  could  speak 
without  an  interpreter  and  all  could  understand.  This  not 
only  greatly  facilitated  the  progress  of  the  conference,  but  en¬ 
abled  one  to  create  a  much  greater  momentum  in  the  ad¬ 
dresses  delivered. 

We  took  time  to  consider  thoroughly  all  the  problems 
pressing  for  solution.  The  work  done  by  committees  was  of 
the  highest  order.  Bible  study  and  prayer  received  great 
emphasis,  and  the  power  of  God  was  present  in  a  remarkable 
manner  throughout  the  sessions  of  the  conference  and  coun¬ 
cil  meetings. 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  EDUCATION. 

In  Africa  one  of  the  chief  problems  of  mission  work  is 
that  of  education.  The  British  government  has  done  but  lit- 


14 


West  Africa  Mission  Conference.  1913. 


15 


tie  to  provide  schools  for  the  people.  As  a  result  the  various 
missions  have  had  to  establish  primary  and  secondary  schools. 
The  United  Brethren  Church  has  assumed  its  share  of  re¬ 
sponsibility  to  bring  to  the  people  of  the  protectorate  the 
priceless  privileges  of  a  Christian  education. 

I  found  that  our  mission  is  conducting  thirty-three  dif¬ 
ferent  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  1,234,  and  that  fifty-seven 
teachers  are  employed.  The  natives  are  contributing  more 
and  more  largely  toward  the  education  of  their  own  children. 

The  annual  conference  has  appointed  from  time  to  time 
a  board  of  education  to  have  supervision  of  the  day  and  board¬ 
ing  schools.  A  comprehensive  report  was  approved  by  the 
conference,  some  articles  of  which  follow: 

1.  That  all  our  day  schools  shall  be  inspected  quarterly 
and  that  uniform  examinations  be  held  in  all  the  schools  an¬ 
nually  as  a  final  test  of  the  year’s  work. 

2.  That  industrial,  agricultural  and  domestic  science  go 
hand  in  hand  with  intellectual  teaching,  especially  in  our 
boarding  schools. 

3.  That  all  persons  who  are  employed  by  the  mission 
as  teachers  hereafter  shall  be  required  to  obtain  a  certificate 
as  the  result  of  an  examination  on  the  subjects  to  be  taught. 

4.  That  Albert  Academy  graduates  and  graduates  of 
other  secondary  schools  approved  by  the  mission  council 
shall  receive  a  three  years’  certificate  without  examination, 
and  at  its  expiration  if  they  have  taught  successfully  for  two 
years  and  have  completed  a  course  of  reading  which  shall  be 
prescribed  for  them,  shall  receive  a  five  years’  certificate  with¬ 
out  examination. 

5.  Tn**  persons  entering  the  Albert  Academy  as  mis¬ 
sion  students,  hereafter  be  required  to  take  one  year  in  the 
Academy  and  then  teach  one  year  in  the  mission  field,  and 
so  on  until  they  have  finished  the  course.  At  the  end  of  each 
year  of  teaching  they  must  be  recommended  anew  before  they 
will  be  allowed  to  enter  the  Academy  as  mission  students. 
By  special  merit  a  student  may  be  allowed  to  complete  the 
last  two  years  of  the  course  consecutively.  This  arrangement 
will  lead  the  boys  in  the  Academy  to  become  actively  identi¬ 
fied  with  the  work  of  the  mission  before  they  complete  their 
course. 

As  a  result  of  the  manual  training  and  other  practical 
features  in  our  Albert  Academy  a  new  emphasis  along  lines 
of  applied  Christianity  has  come  to  the  other  secondary 
schools  in  the  colonv. 

j 

Sierra  Leone  has  a  population  of  1,400,000  and  there  are 
probably  from  250,000  to  300,000  persons  of  school  age.  There 
are,  all  told,  but  158  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  10,292.  Of 


16 


these  151  are  mission  or  Christian  schools  with  an  enrollment 
of  9,271 ;  five  are  Mohammedan  schools  with  an  enrollment  of 
778 ;  two  are  government  schools  with  an  enrollment  of  243. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  only  one  person  in  twenty-five  of 
school  age  in  Sierra  Leone  has  school  privileges  of  any  sort  at 
the  present  time. 

EVANGELISM  AND  MORAL  STANDARDS 

The  question  of  evangelism  and  well  defined  standards 
of  life  for  church  membership  received  most  thorough  consid¬ 
eration.  After  beholding  the  riches  and  glory  of  Jesus  Christ 
through  Bible  study  and  prayer  the  workers  looked  squarely 
at  the  condition  of  the  church  and  the  needs  of  the  unevangel¬ 
ized  multitudes.  The  questions  of  polygamy,  intoxicating 
liquors,  illicit  marriage  relations,  vicious  superstitious  prac¬ 
tices  and  all  works  of  the  flesh  which  choke  the  Christian  life, 
and  destroy  the  evangelistic  power  of  Christian  workers  were 
dealt  with  fearlessly  and  strongly.  ^  While  there  was  a  net 
gain  of  fourteen  per  cent,  in  communicant  members  the  past 
year,  bringing  the  membership  to  1,004,  still  there  was  a  de¬ 
cided  dissatisfaction  with  this  rate  of  increase,  and  the  fol¬ 
lowing  were  voted  unanimously : 

1.  That  we  as  a  body  of  Christian  workers  gird  our  loins, 
and  putting  on  the  whole  armor  of  God  accept  anew  the  chal¬ 
lenge  of  our  Lord  and  go  forth  with  such  a  faith  and  passion 
for  souls  that  we  shall  cause  the  very  power  of  darkness  to 
fall  at  his  feet. 

2.  That  we  will  place  no  value  upon  any  work  we  do 
whether  it  be  in  the  pulpit,  school  room,  work  shop,  or  dis¬ 
pensary  unless  we  do  it  in  terms  of  evangelism.  In  other 
words,  that  all  our  work  of  whatever  kind,  be  done  with  a 
view  to  the  glory  of  God  in  up-lifting  society  through  the  sal¬ 
vation  of  precious  souls. 

3.  That  we  ask  the  Spirit  of  God  to  guide  us  in  making 
soul  winners  of  every  man,  woman  and  child  now  within  the 
fold  and  that  we  so  preach  and  teach  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
may  impress  upon  them  each  that  the  true  test  of  discipleship 
is  to  be  a  soul-winner  and  that  we  grow  in  grace  and  in  favor 
with  God  and  man  only  as  we  are  faithful  in  so  witnessing. 

4.  That  those  who  seek  admission  into  the  church  shall 
be  made  to  feel  that  a  test  of  their  sincerity  in  accepting  Christ 
is  a  passion  on  their  part  to  make  him  known  to  others. 

5.  That  to  conserve  results  of  our  preaching,  teaching 
and  itinerating  work,  and  to  create  a  deeper  bond  of  union  and 
fellowship  with  the  out-stations,  we  plan  to  have  quarterly 
ingatherings  at  the  central  stations  at  which  time  special  serv¬ 
ices  should  be  held,  including  Bible  study,  special  efforts 


17 


lor  soul  winning,  baptismal  and  communion  services,  etc., 
covering  as  many  days  as  may  be  consistent  with  local  condi¬ 
tions, 

6.  That  there  be  appointed  as  soon  as  possible  a  travel¬ 
ing  evangelist  for  the  conference,  whose  duty  shall  be  to  unify 
the  work,  quicken  the  churches,  inspect  the  schools  and  give 
inspiration  and  guidance  to  all  phases  of  the  work. 

CHRISTIAN  STEWARDSHIP  AND  SELF-SUPPORT 

Following  the  great  interest  created  by  the  report  on 
evangelism  and  standards  the  conference  took  up  with  enthusi¬ 
asm  the  question  of  Christian  stewardship  and  self-support. 
I  found  that  Africa  has  been  making  excellent  progress  in 
self-support. 

During  the  conference  it  was  clearly  shown  that  the 
strength  of  mission  work  does  not  consist  alone  in  winning 
large  numbers  to  Christ  but  that  each  one  won  should  be 
trained  to  give  and  to  work  for  the  support  of  the  church  and 
for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom.  Great  emphasis  was  laid, 
therefore,  on  the  fact  that  each  local  church  should  feel  re¬ 
sponsible  for  the  support  of  the  gospel  in  its  own  community, 
and  also  for  giving  to  missions. 

The  conference  approved  the  idea  that  each  local  church 
should  regard  the  money  received  from  the  mission  as  merely 
a  grant  in  aid  to  assist  them  until  they  themselves  can  sup¬ 
port  their  own  pastor  and  other  workers.  A  church  was  de¬ 
fined  as  self-supporting  when  it  pays  its  pastor’s  salary  and 
all  its  local  expenses,  and  in  addition  contributes  for  the  mis¬ 
sionary  work  undertaken  by  the  conference  beyond  its  own 
bounds. 

A  definite  plan  was  agreed  upon  by  which  local  churches 
shall  pay  directly  to  the  support  of  their  own  pastors.  When  a 
local  church  is  able  to  pay  an  amount  above  what  their  pastor 
should  receive,  the  same  shall  be  deposited  with  the  mission 
superintendent  to  help  in  the  support  of  other  weak  charges, 
or  the  congregation  may  be  granted  the  privilege  of  supporting 
some  out-station  as  their  special  object  of  support. 

The  following  standard  was  unanimously  adopted :  “That 
when  a  church  has  become  fully  self-supporting  it  should  aim 
to  give  as  much  for  the  extension  of  Christ’s  kingdom  in 
other  parts  of  Africa  as  it  pays  for  local  expenses  and  pastoral 
support,  and  thus  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ  to  dove  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself.’  ” 

The  conference  voted  that  each  circuit  shall  be  entitled 
to  lay  representation  at  the  annual  conference  when  its  net 
income  amounts  to  sixty  dollars  annually. 


18 


EQUIPMENT  AND  FULL  OCCUPANCY 

The  chief  need  of  our  mission  in  Africa  is  not  for  new 
buildings  and  equipments.  The  various  stations  of  this  mis¬ 
sion  have  already  been  provided  with  substantial  buildings. 
Not  taking  into  account  the  equipment  to  be  provided  for 
Shenge  through  the  Rufus  Clark  bequest,  the  need  for  the 
other  places  for  the  next  four  years  in  the  way  of  school 
buildings,  residences  and  chapels  to  be  supplied  by  the  mission 
will  not  aggregate  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars.  Included 
in  this  is  a  power  house  and  printing  establishment  for  the 
Albert  Academy,  a  mission  residence  at  Mofus,  a  new  church 
at  Mano,  and  school  buildings  at  Bonthe,  Jahama  and  Taiama. 
Other  needs  will  be  supplied  by  the  native  church  itself  dur¬ 
ing  this  time. 

I  was  strongly  impressed  with  the  vast  amount  of  work 
yet  to  be  done  in  Sierra  Leone.  Recent  government  statistics 
show  that  in  the  Ronietta  District  ninety-four  per  cent,  of  the 
Temni  tribe  are  yet  pagan,  five  per  cent.  Mohammedan  and 
but  one  per  cent.  Christian ;  and  of  the  Mendi  tribe  ninety-six 
per  cent,  are  pagan,  two  per  cent.  Mohammedan,  and  two  per 
cent.  Christian.  Some  of  our  strongest  mission  stations  are 
located  in  this  district.  We  are  working  also  among  the 
Sherbro  and  Ivono  people  which  show  even  more  need  than 
those  mentioned. 

After  investigating  the  subject  I  found  that  no  serious 
attempt  has  been  made  to  have  Sierra  Leone  districted  with 
a  view  to  its  complete  evangelization.  Each  missionary  so¬ 
ciety  seems  overwhelmed  with  the  work  in  hand.  To  occupy 
the  field  that  is  immediately  adjacent  to  where  we  are  now 
at  work  we  shall  need  to  increase  greatly  our  native  leaders, 
and  to  strengthen  our  missionary  force  in  a  way  to  give  direc¬ 
tion  and  vitalization  to  the  entire  mission. 

The  need  in  many  districts  might  be  shown  by  the  situa¬ 
tion  I  found  at  Taiama  where  our  one  church  is  in  the  center 
of  more  than  ninety  villages  in  not  one  of  which  has  there  yet 
been  established  a  Christian  church.  We  have  a  great  open 
door  in  the  Kono  Country  where  Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  Hal  Smith 
have  made  a  good  beginning.  We  must  evangelize  the  district 
to  the  east  and  north  of  Shenge ;  and  from  almost  every  one 
of  our  stations  and  out-stations  the  gospel  must  be  sounded 
forth  into  new  territory  with  an  evangelistic  agency  full  of  power 
and  wisdom  from  God,  that  shall  challenge  the  powers  of  dark¬ 
ness  and  lead  the  church  of  Christ  triumphantly. 


Some  Students  of  Girls’  Boarding  School,  Moyamba. 


Graduating  Class,  1913,  Albert  Academy. 


In  Training  for  Service.  Boys’  School,  Rotifunk. 
Glimpses  of  Educatiorial  Work. 


20 


MAKING  THE  MISSIONARIES  EFFICIENT 

The  most  important  factors  in  effective  missionary  work  are 
the  missionaries  themselves  and  the  native  leaders.  Anything 
that  can  be  done  to  make  these  workers  most  efficient  will  tell 
greatly  on  the  uplift  of  the  whole  work.  In  no  other  mission 
field  are  there  more  serious  difficulties  to  be  overcome  by  the 
missionary  than  in  Sierra  Leone.  The  head  must  be  protected 
from  the  sun's  rays  by  a  cork  helmet  from  9  A.  M.  until  4 
P.  M.  daily.  Medical  science  has  done  much  to  remove  condi¬ 
tions  which  produce  malarial  germs  and  the  mosquito  netting 
and  five  grains  of  quinine  daily  are  great  preventatives  of  Afri¬ 
can  fever.  Yet,  I  found  that  most  missionaries  after  eighteen 
months'  service  find  the  lack  of  ozone  in  the  atmosphere,  plus 
the  ever  present  missionary  problems  and  the  downward  pull 
of  paganism,  to  produce  a  tremendous  strain  on  their  nervous 
energies.  The  British  officials  on  the  West  Coast  remain  on 
on  the  field  but  twelve  months,  and  then  they  spend  four 
months  in  England.  After  eighteen  years  of  service  they  are 
granted  a  pension  for  life. 

In  a  sympathetic  conference  with  the  missionaries  on 
their  personal  problems  I  asked  them  to  write  answers  to 
three  questions  without  signing  their  names.  To  the  first, 
“What  is  your  greatest  joy?”  eight  replied,  “My  greatest 
joy  is  being  where  Christ  wants  me  to  be.”  Three  answered, 
“Helping  others  to  find  Christ.”  One  replied,  “To  suffer  in 
a  small  way  for  Jesus  Christ,”  another,  “To  see  souls  coming 
into  the  kingdom  and  to  help  them)  step  by  step  onward.” 

To  the  second  question,  “What  is  the  chief  hindrance  on 
the  part  of  the  mission  which  prevents  the  gospel  from  be¬ 
ing  triumphant?"  six  replied,  “The  missionaries  overbur¬ 
dened  with  material  things  in  the  home  and  in  the  stations.” 
Five  answered,  “Lack  of  prayer  and  overcoming  faith”;  two, 
“Failure  to  understand  the  mind  of  the  black  man  and  to 
adapt  ourselves  to  his  situation.” 

To  the  third  question,  “What  difficulties  do  you  find 
against  living  a  victorious  Christian  life?”  three  answered, 
“Constant  contact  with  heathenism  with  its  downward  pull 
and  the  absence  of  Christian  fellowship."  Five  replied,  “Al¬ 
lowing  work  to  crowd  out  Bible  meditation  and  prayer.” 

To  keep  our  missionaries  from  breaking  prematurely  we 
should  either  shorten  the  term  of  service  on  the  field  or  pro¬ 
vide  for  longer  periods  of  recuperation  in  rest  places  not  far 
away.  Overworked,  nervous  missionaries  cannot  direct  a 
victorious  campaign.  The  policy  of  the  Board  should  be  to 
send  missionaries  to  the  field  when  possible  in  time  to  allow 
them  at  least  six  months  for  the  study  of  the  languages  and 
customs  of  the  people  before  they  assume  heavy  work ;  and 


21 


when  the  mastery  of  the  native  language  is  absolutely  essen¬ 
tial  a  much  longer  preliminary  period  should  be  granted  for 
language  study. 

I  found  in  all  the  missions  on  the  West  Coast  a  tempta¬ 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries  to  make  too  much  of  the 
machinery  of  their  stations  to  the  neglect  of  the  larger  things, 
the  vitalization  of  the  churches,  and  evangelism.  Every  sta¬ 
tion  should  be  the  headquarters  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
whole  region  rather  than  the  agency  for  the  doing  of  local 
work  only.  More  and  more  missionaries  should  become  sup¬ 
erintendents  of- the  work  in  extended  districts. 

\ 

MAKING  STRONG  THE  NATIVE  PASTOR  AND  THE 

NATIVE  CHURCH 

The  real  goal  in  effective  mission  work  is  to  vitalize 
and  direct  the  native  church.  The  native  leaders  on  the  field 
are  the  pivotal  men,  and  with  these  native  pastors  the  mis¬ 
sionary  must  counsel,  sympathize  and  impart  his  own  victor¬ 
ious  spirit.  If  Christianity  is  to  possess  Africa  it  must  do  it 
through  a  living  and  life-giving  native  church  that  shall 
reach  its  highest  efficiency  under  wise  native  leadership.  Only 
when  the  native  church  is  aggressive  in  evangelism  and 
triumphant  in  spiritual  life  will  there  be  forthcoming  an 
adequate  supply  of  native  leaders. 

Stretching  out  eastward  from  our  missionjnto  the  Soudan 
for  more  than  a  thousand  miles,  there  are  villages,  towns, 
tribes  and  great  districts  without  one  ray  of  gospel  light. 
God-inspired,  trained  native  evangelists  and  pastors  must 
make  the  advance  into  most  of  this  new  territory,  and  conquer 
it  for  Jesus  Christ.  The  chief  work  of  the  missionary  and  the 
mission  is  to  cooperate  with  our  Lord  in  securing  and  train¬ 
ing  these  native  leaders,  and  in  directing  the  campaign  of  ad¬ 
vance.  The  loneliness  of  the  native  pastors  and  the  native 
Christians  in  Africa,  surrounded  by  ninety-nine  persons  out 
of  every  one  hundred  who  are  captured  by  Satan  and  are  liv¬ 
ing  in  pagan  darkness,  is  simply  indescribable.  We  must  or¬ 
ganize  our  work  so  as  to  bring  strong,  sympathetic  mission¬ 
aries  from  the  outside  to  every  station  and  out-station  at  least 
quarterly.  By  personal  sympathetic  contact  with  the  native 
workers,  and  through  Bible  study,  prayer  and  public  preach¬ 
ing  the  entire  native  congregation  must  be  reached  and  Chris¬ 
tian  ideals  and  a  spiritual  atmosphere  created,  so  as  to  enable 
all  these  native  workers  and  Christians  to  claim  God’s  power 
for  victorv. 

I  found  the  most  desperate  conflict  raging  between  the 
light  and  darkness.  In  many  places  the  condition  is  such  as 


22 


to  be  dangerous  to  the  spiritual  life  of  tlje  missionary.  I  was 
simply  appalled  at  the  deadening,  blighting  influences  of  pag¬ 
anism  as  it  now  surrounds  many  of  our  Christian  workers. 
We  challenged  the  churches  from  place  to  place  to  prove 
God  and  rely  on  his  power,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  to  destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil,  and  gave  us  the  promise,  “Behold  I 
g*ive  unto  you  power  .  .  .  over  all  the  power  of  the  enemy.” 

In  order  to  meet  the  conditions  for  spiritual  life  and  ag¬ 
gressive  work,  by  unanimous  desire  and  appointment  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  E.  M.  Hursh  were  assigned  to  visit  the  various 
stations  and  carry  into  effect  the  resolutions  adopted  on  evan¬ 
gelism,  moral  standards  and  self-support. 


CO-OPERATION  AND  UNION  WORK. 

The  official  members  of  the  Providence  Christian  Church 
of  Freetown,  an  independent  congregation  of  about  one  hun¬ 
dred  members  located  near  the  Albert  Academy,  came  to  our 
annual  conference  seeking  to  unite  with  our  mission.  The 
conference  looked  with  favor  on  their  proposition  and  ap¬ 
pointed  Revs.  J.  F.  Mussel-man,  E.  M.  Hursh,  and  S.  E.  Bick- 
ersteth  to  consider  the  conditions  and  details  of  this  union 
and  to  report  a  year  hence.  It  is  hoped  that  the  Providence 
congregation  may  be  willing  to  merge  their  membership  with 
our  church  in  Freetown  and  thus  form  one  strong  congrega¬ 
tion,  while  the  present  site  of  the  Providence  Church  may 
be  used  for  a  mission  Sunday  school  and  a  feeder  for  the  main 
congregation. 

It  is  becoming  more  and  more  clear  that  we  must  make 
provision  for  the  higher  education  of  young  women  in  Africa. 
These  are  greatly  needed  as  teachers,  Bible  women  and  as 
wives  for  the  native  pastors.  The  mission  council  recom¬ 
mends  if  satisfactory  arrangements  can  be  made,  that  we  co¬ 
operate  with  one  of  the  Christian  girls’  schools  in  Freetown 
for  the  higher  education  of  girls  who  complete  the  course  in 
our  girls’  boarding  school. 

The  more  I  studied  the  problems  of  Sierra  Feone  the 
stronger  the  conviction  became  that  the  greatest  advance  that 
can  be  made  in  this  field  will  come  by*  the  formation  of  an 
interdenominational  missionary  council  that  shall  unify,  vital¬ 
ize  and  direct  the  entire  Christian  force,  British  and  American, 
for  the  complete  evangelization  of  the  protectorate. 

Sierra  Leone  is  far  behind  all  the  other  fields  I  have  visited 
in  the  matter  of  cooperation  between  the  Christian  forces  at 
work.  At  the  present  time  Freetown  has  a  cpngestion  of 
native  workers  while  the  great  up-country  districts  with  forty 
times  its  population  are  much  neglected.  The  native  pastors 


23 


and  churches  near  the  coast  are  in  need  of  a  vision  of  the 
whole  field  and  a  passion  to  do  hard  missionary  work  in  the 
hinterland.  A  great  religious  congress  ought  to  be  held  to 
lift  up  the  proper  standards  and  create  an  atmosphere  that 
will  fire  these  native  Christians  to  do  their  utmost  for  the 
evangelization  of  their  own  country. 

Our  annual  conference  voted  in  favor  of  holding  such  a 
general  missionary  congress,  and  I  took  the  matter  up  earnest¬ 
ly  with  the  leaders  of  other  societies  and  called  their  attention 
to  the  importance  of  our  planning  for  cooperative  work  in 
education,  Christian  literature,  uniform  moral  standards,  the 
complete  occupation  of  the  field  with  a  Christian  force,  and 
in  the  matter  of  dealing  with  the'  government  for  the  sup¬ 
pression  of  the  liquor  traffic. 


FACING  ANOTHER  YEAR’S  WORK. 

After  the  strenuous  sessions  of  the  annual  conference  the 
missionaries  assembled  and  organized  the  mission  council  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  new  policy  and  principles  recently  approved 
for  the  Board.  The  missionaries  then  considered  their  tasks 
for  another  year. 

They  knew  of  the  darkness  and  difficulties  ahead.  They 
had  been  refreshed  by  each  other's  faith  and  fellowship,  and 
by  an  enlarged  view  of  the  riches  of  Christ  through  the  study 
of  his  Word  and  through  prayer. 

Recognizing  as  of  first  importance  the  necessity  for  united 
prayer  they  covenanted  together  to  pray  for  each  other  dur- 
•ing  some  period  between  five  and  seven  o’clock  each  morning. 
Never  have  I  been  more  certain  of  God’s  guidance  and  power 
in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  many  than  during  the  strenuous 
experiences  in  Africa.  May  I  plead  therefore,  that  fervent, 
continuous  prayer  be  offered  to  God  for  our  missionaries 
in  the  dark  continent,  for  whose  sacrifices  and  devotion  to 
Jesus  Christ  I  now  have  a  much  deeper  appreciation.  The 
desire  of  each  could  be  expressed  in  the  motto  of  Rev.  and 
Mrs..  Richter  for  the  year,  “That  T  might  know  him  and  the 
power  of  his  resurrection  and  the  fellowship  of  his  suffering, 
being  made  conformable  unto  his  death.” 

Upon  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Musselman  fell  a  very  heavy  respon¬ 
sibility  to  arrange  for  the  itinerary  and  to  look  after  the  nu¬ 
merous  details  for  the  annual  conference  and  council  meet¬ 
ings.  They  did  their  work  nobly. 

I  heard  on  every  side  the  highest  words  of  appreciation 
from  our  own  and  other  missionaries,  and  from  British  offici¬ 
als,  of  the  heroic  labors  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  J.  R.  King.  The 


24 


Church  will  never  know  fully  what  these  faithful  missionaries 
have  endured  in  establishing  our  work  in  Africa. 

The  power  of  God  began  to  fall  on  the  workers  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  new  year.  A  native  pastor  sent  me 
the  following  message:  “I  have  received  a  new  spiritual  bur¬ 
den  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  Nine  persons  have  earnestly 
asked  for  prayer  since  conference.” 

Another  wrote:  ‘T  feel  there  is  nothing  too  hard  to  be  at¬ 
tempted  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.”  Six  young  men  were 
received  into  the  church  at  Freetown  one  week  after  the  con¬ 
ference.  Since  returning  to  America  I  have  received  word  from 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hursh  after  they  had  visited  six  of  the  stations 
and  out-stations  where  they  gave  much  time  to'  prayer,  Bible 
study,  Christian  stewardship  and  evangelism.  Everywhere  in¬ 
spiring  results  including  conversions  and  greatly  increased  at¬ 
tendance  are  reported.  The  six  places  visited  agreed  to  in¬ 
crease  their  gifts  to  self-support  from  $324,  the  amount  given 
last  year,  to  $620  for  this  year. 

A  CLOSING  WORD. 

All  Africa  is  now  open.  David  Livingstone  who  said, 
“I  will  open  up  a  way  or  perish,”  died  not  in  vain.  The  na¬ 
tions  of  Europe  have  rushed  in  for  commercial  purposes  and 
have  divided  up  the  great  continent.  They  are  now  explor¬ 
ing  its  resources  for  the  material  enrichment  of  the  rest  of  the 
world.  Remarkable  commercial  developments  are  being  made 
year  by  year. 

Shall  the  Christian  Church  allow  the  millions  of  neglected 
black  men  in  Africa  to  be  left  in  their  awful  demon-possessed 
condition,  and  to  the  vices  and  cruelty  of  the  European 
traders?  Shall  Christendom  act  the  part  of  the  priest  who 
came  and  saw  the  wounded  man  and  then  passed  by  on  the 
other  side ;  or  shall  we  be  worthy  successors  of  the  good 
Samaritan  who,  when  he  saw  him,  had  compassion  on  him, 
went  to  him  and  bound  up  his  wounds  and  took  care  of  him? 
Which  shall  it  be? 


Sincerely, 


S.  S.  HOUGH. 


-  Sfr  if* 


